Audiofly is an Australian company that designs and makes premium in-ear headphones and their high-end AF78 Headphone model has impressed us with its superb range, amazing audio clarity and good volume. But it also costs $200. For those who are looking for good headphones with great build quality, audio quality, loud volume but cost less, the Audiofly AF45 offers the balance of great audio quality and cheaper price. The AF45 has a different physical design from the AF78, but uses good quality materials and gives you plenty for your money. The AF45M with built-in mic makes a great voice headset thanks to the clear and loud incoming and outgoing audio. The Audiofly AF45 comes in three colors including White Knight, Brown Sound and Stout Black.

Design

The Audiofly AF45 has a normal earbud design unlike the AF78. The straight shape creates less space for larger chambers that give the AF78 its full range, but the AF45 has 11mm dynamic drivers that's custom voiced. But like the AF78, the AF45 has thermoplastic housing protecting the driver chambers and machined anodized alloy bezels that cap the chambers. The headset comes with 4 sets of high grade silicon ear tips in different sizes. The headset feels comfortable to wear and doesn't need to jam inside too deep to stay in your ear.

The Audiofly AF45M has a gold plated 3.5mm audio plug that's long and skinny. It will fit most phones, tablets and audio devices even when they are inside of cases. The base of the 3.5mm audio plug on the AF45 is plastic unlike the AF78 with metal. AF45 also comes with nearly 4 feet long cord that's tangle free, or Audioflex cable as Audiofly calls it. It's thinner than the ones on the AF78, but robust nonetheless.

Features

The Audiofly AF45 has amazing volume and good range. The headset's 11mm dynamic drivers channel the sound directly into your ears. While it lacks the full range of the AF78 as the AF45 has a shorter body design and smaller chambers, but the streamlined sound port does minimize sound eddies. The Audiofly AF45 has good noise isolation but not as strong as with the AF78 which has a better design in blocking ambient noise. You can still hear someone's voice when wearing the AF45, unlike with the A78 where you only see someone's mouth moving but can't hear the sound. Still, the headset blocks most voice and most ambient noise including on an airplane.

The Audiofly AF45M model has built-in mic and costs $10 more than the AF45 without the built-in mic. For making phone calls, the AF45M has very good outgoing voice and outstanding incoming voice in stereo. If you need a headset with good voice call quality, the extra cost for get a built-in mic is worth it if you like the music playback quality of the AF45.

Audio Quality

The AF45 has very loud audio by earbud headphone standards. While it lacks the superior range of the AF78, the AF45 excels in balanced audio that mixes tracks into enjoyable package. You won't hear each tracks clearly like with the AF78, but it's less distracting when you play pop music, movies and games. The AF45 also has stronger bass. The only genre that the AF45 might not be great for is some classical pieces where you want to clearly hear different pieces of instruments when several other types of instruments are playing. We tested the AF45 with smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices, the audio quality is consistent and volume loud across the board. The headset works well with Beats Audio phones such as the HTC One X and notebooks, which adds more bass, and that translates through the headset.

Brown Sound and Stout Black version:

Conclusion

The Audiofly AF45 is one of the best earbud headsets we've tested in this price range. The audio quality for music, movie and gaming has excellent clarity and incredible volume. The tracks are more balanced and mixed yet not muddy, and the headset has strong bass. We like the high quality materials and comfortable form. It has very good noise cancelling and it's a great headset for making and receiving phone calls. It doesn't compete with the range that the Audiofly AF78 offers but it also costs a lot less.